Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak receives leadership award

The Young Elected Officials (YEO) Network honored Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak with their prestigious Leadership Award for her work engaging young elected officials across Pennsylvania on May 18.

Since being appointed as the Network’s Pennsylvania State Director in 2013, Ms. Rudiak has recruited 60 Pennsylvania electeds under the age of 35 to share ideas and build power.

Ms. Rudiak received the award in Los Angeles at the YEO Network’s ninth convening. Joined by more than 100 fellow elected officials and national leaders from across the country, she explored policy initiatives, participated in issue-based training sessions, and talked about her own work opening city data to the public and expanding access to early childhood education.

Of her outreach work, Councilwoman Rudiak says, “I wanted to reach out to those young elected officials in Pennsylvania who are blazing new trails and have overcome great odds to be elected. These are the folks doing the work on the ground, and the more we can coordinate, the more influence we can have over state and federal issues that impact us all.”

The Young Elected Officials (YEO) Network, a nonpartisan organization, is the first and only national initiative to provide a network of support to federal, state, and elected officials ages 18 to 35 from all 50 states. The Network, which is committed to being “of, by, and for” young electeds, is unique in developing young leaders who share the values of freedom, fairness, and opportunity for all.

Ms. Rudiak, 34, was elected to Pittsburgh City Council in 2009 and has been a member of the Young Elected Officials Network since June 2011.